“Aiden?”
The man turned sharply, and so did Marlowe.
“Cody,” she said. “What are you doing here?”
“Lila mentioned that Aiden was staying. I thought that we ought to have a talk.”
“Oh my God,” Marlowe said. “Cody… go home.”
“Who is this?” Aiden asked.
“I own this place,” Cody said. “I would’ve been your bossif you hadn’t abandoned your wife right before the cross-country move like the little bitch that you are.”
“Cody,” Marlowe said, smiling and talking carefully through her motionless mouth. “There are guests.”
“Then let’s move,” Cody said.
But Aiden just stood there, not moving.
Fine. Cody was fine doing this here. “If you’re going to get back with her, there are some things you need to know. You didn’t treat her well enough. And you don’t have a job available here because I don’t need to pay two people to do a job that she does amazingly all on her own. So what I know is you were dead weight. And I think you were that in the relationship, too. I don’t think you understand what you have here,” he said. The words scraped him raw, and it was suddenly like he was stabbing himself. Slowly. Methodically, right in the gut. “She’s beautiful, she’s passionate. She’s the smartest woman I’ve ever met. She has amazing insight into not only the things that have happened to her, but into all the people around her. She’s forgiving, she’s kind, but not so kind that she can be run over. Her capacity for love, for caring about people in spite of everything she’s been through, is amazing. In spite of what you did to her. Any man who doesn’t appreciate that, who doesn’t treasure that, is a goddamn fool.”
It hit him like a herd of horses running right over him.
It was him. He was the fool.
He’d wanted to yell at Aiden because he really wanted to yell at himself. Because what he really wanted was to go back and do things differently.
Go back and change things.
Because he was the one who needed to hear this.
“Cody,” Marlowe said. “I’m not getting back together with him. He knows that. He’s here to visit Cara. And to make the most out of the plane ticket that he bought.”
Cody looked at her, and he felt the walls inside of himcrumble. There were diners milling around, walking past them, they all looked casual enough, he supposed, that no one was lingering, but he could feel all the intensity bleeding out of him. He could feel his heart about beat out of his chest.
“You’re not getting back together with him?”
“No. Because I love you. That didn’t change just because you said no.”
“You didn’t mentionthis,” Aiden said, looking wildly between them.
“Because it’s not your business,” Marlowe said. “You left me. My relationships are my business. And anyway, Cody and I aren’t together anymore, so I wasn’t hedging any bets. Unlike you. I would rather be alone than be with somebody who doesn’t love me the way that I deserve. And that is growth.”
Cody took Marlowe’s hand, and Aiden began to follow them. “No,” Cody barked, and the man obeyed him.
He dragged her out the side door, onto the back patio of the hotel. It was still warm outside, the June evening lovely and clear. “I do love you,” he said.
“Cody…”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “But I’m miserable. I’ve been miserable ever since I told you that I couldn’t be with you. I just… I couldn’t figure out how to accept it. I just couldn’t. You were right about me. Everything that you said was true. And I knew it the minute that you said the words, I just didn’t know how to make it not matter.”
“You came over here because you heard Aiden was here. You just want me because you’re afraid that someone else is going to have me.
Cody shook his head. “That’s not true. It’s not. I needed to say those things to him, but really I needed to hear them. Because I’m the idiot who let you go, Marlowe. You said all that to me, and I was scared. I didn’t know how to fix myself fast enough to give you what you wanted. What you needed.”
Marlowe looked down, then back up at him, a tear slipping down her cheek. “I don’t need you to be perfectly fixed. Cody, the way that I feel about you, it’s different. Different from anything I’ve ever felt before. When I left you, I felt stronger. Not weaker. And it’s because you built me up. It’s a testament to who you are. You are the man that I want to be with. But you also made me into a strong enough woman that I feel like I can stand on my own. You made me want more and better for myself. Because I can see glimmers of that. Of what you can give. Of what it would be like if you loved me.”
“I do,” he said, gripping her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “God, I do. And if I have to fight that idiot to have you…”
